Book Review of Life and Death by Saanvi Kunisetty

 Life and Death Review

Saanvi Kunisetty

Twilight- the famous tale of Bella, an ordinary girl who moves to Forks, only to fall in love with Edward, who turns out to be a vampire. What many don’t know is that Twilight wasn’t the original story. The original story narrated the tale of Beaufort, who falls in love with the vampire Edythe. This book, named as Life and Death, was the original version Meyer wrote of Twilight, which she released on the tenth anniversary of Twilight’s publication. So, what are the differences between the two? Well for one, the genders are reversed for most characters. All the Cullen brothers become Cullen sisters, and vice versa. Edward becomes Edythe, Bella becomes Beau. The only people who stay the same are Charlie and Renee, and the author has a specific reason to do so. In that time period, the mother generally took full custody/responsibility of a child after divorce, so both Beau and Bella lived with Renee originally, but when they grew old enough, moved to Forks with Charlie. As for me, I particularly prefer Twilight over Life and Death. Perhaps it’s because over the four books of the series, along with Midnight Sun and all the movies, I’ve bonded with all the characters, their personalities, their backstories, and more. The sudden reversal of roles is frankly quite uncomfortable, and many times, it’s hard to become suited to the new names and genders. In Twilight, Bella generally plays the “damsel in distress” role, but I have a hard time seeing Beau fit this character. Overall, though, the stories are quite the same, and it’s a story I truly love and cherish. It is interesting to ultimately see how certain thoughts, scenes, and ideas from Life and Death were further developed and expanded in Twilight. It’s evident that Meyer improved the story and writing significantly between both.